Breaking Tradition
by Lorinhazuzu
Summary: Hermione thinks it is time to put an end to the whole House rivalry thing. Ron and Harry don't agree, but you never, ever tell Hermione Granger that she can't do something, because you are just going to have to eat your words.


_It's not epilogue compliant. Characters might be a bit OOC, just a warning._

_Anyways, characters do not belong to me, sadly._

Breaking tradition

She burst through the doors of the Great Hall, her breathing coming out in huffs, her cheeks flushed and her eyes flashing in anger. She couldn't believe the nerve of them. Who did they think they were to tell her what to do? How dare they? He thought that just because he was Harry Potter she was going to let herself be controlled by him? And Ron as well! She thought to herself, her whole body trembling with anger, her hands clenched into fists on her sides, longing to connect with certain best friend's faces.

She could hear them as they followed her, shouting out her name, and that she should hear them out.

Hear them out! Please, her head was already too full of their prejudiced words as it was, she thought angrily.

She could see people staring at her, but she kept going, the two idiots following after her.

"C'mon 'Mione, you can't be thinking about going to talk to him! Now that we talked to you, you're supposed to _stop_ talking to him. He is a pureblood fanatic git, remember?" That was Ron. _Of course, _she thought shaking her head, and what was it with that stupid nickname? Hadn't she said to them dozens of times already that she hated it?

"He is right you know 'Mione. You just can't go around being friendly with Slytherins!" Harry said in agreement with Ron.

That was obviously a mistake. Hermione whirled around so suddenly both boys nearly ran into her.

"Excuse-me?" She didn't even try to keep her voice from rising; right now she just didn't care about the fact that all of the Hogwarts' students were watching the fight with much interest.

"Did you just say that I _can't_ do something?" She took a deep breath, straightening her shoulders as she fixed her most furious glare on the two boys that were starting to cower at the look on her face.

"Don't you dare. Don't you dare patronize me Harry Potter. Who do you thing you are to tell me what I can and can't do, huh? You think you can just go ordering me about? Well you've got another thing coming. I'll do whatever I want to and be friendly to whomever I want to be, and do you want to know what you are going to do about it?" She shouted at the grimacing boys "Nothing! Because there is nothing you can do. Because who I decide to be or not to be friends with is none of your business! Got that?" As a last thought, she added "And don't call me that!"

She finished her loud speech that could have rivalled one of Mrs Weasley's howlers, and sending another glare towards the infuriating boys that looked like they were just about to start arguing ( really, had they no self-preservation instincts?) she turned around and started walking towards the Gryffindor table. She stopped however when a drawling voice came from the Slytherin table.

"Oi Granger, since you're tired of you idiot friends, you should come and sit with us" a voice she recognized said. She turned around on her heels. It was Draco Malfoy. She let out a relieved sigh.

Any time before this year, nobody would have believed it, but after the war, Draco Malfoy had changed a lot; he wasn't the only one either, many of the Slytherins had 'reformed' in a way and although 'nice' was a word she would never use to describe them, they actually got along pretty well with the other houses. Ron and Harry though were set on their ways and just couldn't believe that anyone could change so much; hence their fight. Draco Malfoy's transformation had been by far the most surprising, and striking. It had also been the one the boys found the hardest to understand. Free of his father's control now, he was a lot humbler than he was before, still cunning and sneaky, sure, but not in a malicious way anymore.

Once they had been back at school, Draco had actually sought her out and apologized for the way he treated her during their previous years at school. He hadn't apologized for every insult he had ever thrown at her, and she thought it made sense for him not to, the whole name calling thing was absolutely normal for children, and she didn't resent him for that, she would be a big hypocrite if she did since she'd given him as much as she got from him. However he had apologized for the insults that concerned her blood and the fact that she was a muggle-born. He had actually used the word 'muggle-born' and upon seeing her shocked look he had chuckled and said that "the war was terrible Granger, but it was also enlightening." He had left her there pondering those words and finding that he was quite right. Hermione, that had been more than eager to let things go and have one last peaceful year at Hogwarts, had accepted his apology, but it was obvious that neither Ron, nor Harry was ready to 'forgive and forget' just yet. At the time – when she had been so shocked herself about the new situation – she understood. She hadn't been expecting much of a change really, if she was being honest with herself, but two months into the school year and she had found that Malfoy hadn't said a single insult about or towards her (Ron had thought that he was up to something and as usual Harry had let himself be goaded by him). Actually every time they passed each other in the school corridors he would nod politely at her usually whilst chatting with Blaize Zabini and Theodore Nott, whom he seemed to have become closer friends with this year.

He hadn't changed completely, of course. Every time they were in the same class, which was quite often (much to Ron's and Harry's chagrin) and Hermione would jump at the chance to answer a question she would hear him scoffing or muttering a 'know-it-all'.

She had looked at him feeling a bit hurt the first time this had happened only to find that he was looking at her with a crooked smile and an expression that clearly said 'some things never change'. After that whenever this happened again she found that it didn't bother her, because it had become some kind of friendly banter: she would always look at him with a mock scowl on her face and receive a teasing smile in return.

It was after the Christmas Holidays when things really changed between the two.

They had been paired off together in Potions, and to the utter surprise of their classmates, instead of killing each other off, they had become something that could almost be described as friends.

After that she seemed to bump into him everywhere she went, or maybe it was just that she was more aware of his presence then. At the beginning they would be perfectly friendly to each other (though she is not going to deny it, it still freaked her out a little) but their conversations were short, because they both still felt awkward around each other, but as time went on their conversations became longer and they grew more comfortable around each other. He was sneaky like most Slytherins and a bit big-headed, but she found he was also clever and that he had a sarcastic sense of humour she liked, and a softer side that not many people knew about. On the other hand Hermione would forever be a stubborn and somewhat bad-tempered Gryffindor but she could somehow relax around him and enjoy herself in a way she never could with Ron and Harry. Yes, they were her best friends but always it seemed like the boys got along and understood each other in a way she never could.

She could do that with Draco though. Sure, they had their fights, they were both opinionated (Draco seemed to take extra pleasure in expressing his genuine opinions on every little thing nowadays) and they didn't' always agree with each other, but they kept up with one another, pushed each other, complemented each other.

It was nearing April when Hermione realized that she had started gravitating more towards the blonde than her two best friends.

The increasing amount of time that Hermione was spending with Draco didn't go unnoticed by neither Ron nor Harry, and today they had finally voiced their 'worries'.

After living with each other for seven years she would thing that they would've learnt better by now, but the way they both approached the subject, (it started with "I think you should stop spending so much time with that git Hermione" and went all the way to "Did he use the Imperius curse on you? He did, didn't he? I knew it!) proved that they hadn't.

Still very mad, she started walking once again, this time towards the Slytherin table where Draco, Theo and Blaize were grinning at her. (She had become friends with the other two boys as well through Draco). She could hear both Ron and Harry spluttering in disbelief behind her (she was sure they weren't the only ones) and took great pleasure at the knowledge. She really thought that it was about time that this stupid house rivalry ended.

She plopped down on the bench, sitting herself between Draco and Blaize. She felt Draco's hand looking for hers under the table. As her muttered a satisfied "finally" his hand found hers and he intertwined their fingers together. She shared a knowing smile with him as the other two started chatting happily about their next holidays.

She would make up with Harry and Ron. She knew she would, they had been friends for too long, faced too much together not to, but she would leave them alone for a while to think over their actions, and meanwhile she would enjoy the company of her new friends and best friend.

She looked sideways at Draco only to be surprised as he leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips. She could hear surprised gasps coming from everywhere in the Hall, Harry and Ron's cry of "Hermione!" but more clearly she could hear Theo whooping and Blaize crying out a "finally". Okay then, so maybe they would be a bit more than best friends. She grinned at the thought as she felt his lips moving softly on top of hers, finding that she didn't mind that. She didn't mind that at all.

End

_Annnnnnd it's another fluffy one, it seems it is my area of expertise huh? Cute and Fluffy? =D. I know the character might be a bit OOC, I tried to make it as realistic as I could. I also wanted to try writing a story where Hermione is a bit more confident and sure of herself, and this is what I came up with. Tell me what you think though._

_Lorena M._


End file.
